'Mulan' Remake Is Beautiful To Watch But Lacking In Feeling
Starring Yifei Liu, Donnie Yen, Li Gong, Jet Li and Jason Scott Lee
PG-13
Action, Adventure
Run time: 1 hr, 55 min
Directed by Niki Caro
On Disney+ September 4, 2020 (for additional fee)
I grew up in the golden age of Disney: Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Mulan, Tarzan, all the greats. And I loved Mulan so much I had dolls of her and Shang that hung out with my Barbies. So when I first heard about this remake, I was uncertain. How were they going to convey the humor and drama that the animated film was somehow able to do seamlessly? Then I heard it wasn’t going to be a musical, then that it was, then again that it wasn’t. But seeing that first trailer made me awestruck. They seemed to have given this hero who is far more than a Disney Princess a movie worthy of her character. It looked big, dramatic and, honestly, pretty badass for a Disney film.
The plot of this story is only the same as the cartoon at its base level. A young woman named Mulan goes into the army to save her older, ailing father from the death sentence of going himself. She screws up some but proves herself more often than not to be not only capable, but phenomenal. And that’s pretty much where the similarities end. This version is a bit darker, involves a magical aspect I didn’t expect and doesn’t really care too much about any person in this movie that isn’t the title character.
I have to say first and foremost, I wanted to love this movie. I really did. I don’t love the majority of these live-action remakes, but this one seemed to have the most potential out of a few of the most recent re-dos. And while it came in at just under two hours, which is something I appreciate, it felt like that run time came at the expense of character development. The only real thing we learn about Mulan is that she loves her family and wants to bring honor to them. That’s pretty much it. There is an attempt at a love interest that falls flat because they interact so little that we can’t even imagine them falling for one another.
All my issues with the characters aside, this movie is one of the few that I think I could truly say is failed by being streaming only. Some of the shots are clearly made for the big screen, and some almost make you dizzy because it looks tailor-made for an IMAX 3D experience, which just won’t be the same on your home television, no matter how good it is.
Now I know it sounds like I must have hated this movie, but I really didn’t. It was a fun way to spend 2 hours, but if you are extremely partial to the cartoon, you may be disappointed. As for me, I definitely don’t feel like it was a waste of time, but I am not sure it was worth the $30 we had to pay to watch it. Unless you’re determined to watch it immediately, I’d wait for this one to land on the non-premium Disney+ to watch. But if you’re dying to get back to movie theaters (like I am), it may still scratch the itch for watching a new blockbuster film in 2020, even if it’s just in your living room.